"That was the only way to win today because Jorge was very strong and beating Marc was very difficult."

Australian Jack Miller, who had lined up in second place at the start on a non-factory Pramac Ducati, crashed out early on while in fourth.

Derailed: Australia's Jack Miller was unable to take advantage of a strong early position.

Photo: AP

Local favourite Valentino Rossi managed only a distant seventh for Yamaha and lost second place overall to Dovizioso, who now has 154 points to Spaniard Marquez's 221 with six races remaining. Rossi has 151.

Lorenzo also crashed out, on the penultimate lap, at the Marco Simoncelli circuit on Italy's Adriatic coast, while heading for a Ducati one-two finish.

That lifted Britain's Cal Crutchlow to third as the leading non-factory finisher on an LCR-Honda.